Saturday, June 20, 2009

One Liter of Tears is one of those syndicated television drama series that was Tagalized (a popular term used here in the Philippines when something is translated in our own Tagalog language), the telenovela ended last night, it was aired in a primetime slot in GMA 7. As the title of the TV program connotes, I did shed more than a liter of tears in the whole month (or less) that it was aired. Three nights ago, my son promptly told me that I am always crying whenever I watch One Liter of Tears and that I shouldn't watch it anymore to prevent me from having anymore heartaches (isn't he sweet?)

One Liter of Tears is a Japanese television drama for Fuji Television about a girl who was diagnosed with an incurable degenerative disease at 15 but was able to continue her life until her death at the age of 25. Variations of titles include (1) Ichi Rittoru No Namida, A Diary with Tears, A Diary of Tears; it is an adaptation of the published diary of Aya Kito of the same title in 1986 and a movie (of the same title) that was released in 2008.

According to FujiTV - One Litre of Tears (Ichi Rittoru no Namida / A Diary with Tears) is about a 15-years-old Kito Aya. Aya was an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop, and a soon-to-be high schooler. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. She has been falling down often and walks strange. Her mother, Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. A cruel disease, as it does not affect the mind in the least.

This beautifully moving drama is based on the real-life struggles of a 15-years-old girl named Aya who suffered from an incurable disease, but lived life to the fullest until her death at 25. The script is based on the diary Aya kept writing until she could no longer hold a pen. The book that later followed entitled “One Litre of Tears" has sold over 1.1 million copies in Japan alone.Aya's only wish was “to live." By carefully depicting Aya's earnest desire to live, and the love of her family, friends, and lover, the drama, “One Litre of Tears" wishes to deliver her simple but strong message: “Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing."

I had seen most of the syndicated drama series from Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Mexico even before Asian programs dominated Philippine mainstream TV but I had never cried as much as I did nor did I ever felt humbled and thankful for what I have but One Liter of Tears made me experience all that in less than a month. A night never pass in the entire duration of the series that I didn't felt heavy-laden but within those same nights, after I put my son to bed, I felt (I still do) very fortunate that I am not the one in Shioka's (Aya's mom) place. Yes, I did whisper a number of thank you(s) to the Lord Almighty during those times and I plan to continue to do so. :)

For that and a whole lot more, I give One Liter of Tears a two thumbs up! I'll make it a three, if I have an extra thumb *grins*.

Wow, i was not able to see the whole series..tsk..tsk..nkatutok kasi ako kay goo jun pyo..i wish i can get a copy of it, oh kong wla talaga, sna meron ngdodownload ng series na yan sa youtube...thanks for sharing this...

Disclosure Policy

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.